


In These Fractured Times

by Laily



Series: All My Frostiron : In Love & War [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Fluff, Humor, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Protective Loki (Marvel), Protective Tony Stark, Romance, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:40:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26911534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laily/pseuds/Laily
Summary: Tony's Battle Strategy for When the Enemy is Bigger than You: Always push Loki out of the way. Always.(Whumptober 2020 Prompt #12 Fill: I Think I've Broken Something)
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark
Series: All My Frostiron : In Love & War [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1976677
Comments: 26
Kudos: 223
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	In These Fractured Times

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Arabesqueangel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arabesqueangel/gifts).



“Stark!” Loki barked. “Will you sit still and let me take a look at you?”

“You sound worried. Why do you sound worried? You never sound worried,” Tony swallowed. “Oh my God. I’m dying.”

When neither affirmation nor denial issued forth from Loki’s lovely lips –

“I’m finally dying. God, Games, there’s so many things I haven't told you – ”

Loki was looking absolutely pissed, now that he’d finally wrenched the heavily dented armour piece away and extricated Tony’s arm from the mangled mesh of metal.

“There’s a letter under my bed in my penthouse,” Tony tried to remember what other mementos he had scattered around their secret rendezvous hideout, “It’s written in my special cold-activated invisible ink, and it’s for your eyes only, since only you can activate it with your lovely Jotun hands...”

Said hands were now tracing the lines of his damaged shoulder and biceps muscles; they must be, for he could hardly feel a thing what with the pins and needles running up and down the injured limb. A deep-seated numbness was beginning to ascend from his knees up.

I’m running out of time, he thought frantically.

“You know that choker we saw in the window display on our last not-date? The one with black diamonds and rhodium plating? I saw you looking at it and I knew you liked it even if you didn’t say anything – ”

Tony nodded sadly when Loki stole a split second to glance at him incredulously.

“Yeah, I called Bvlgari and got one for you. It's on backorder but JARVIS knows where I keep all my receipts - _Owww!!”_

He howled when his arm erupted in an inferno of pain along with a horrific, cracking sound.

 _I think I’ve broken something!_ Tony was about to say in panic, but just like that, the pain disappeared.

“Hey, I can move my arm again,” he exclaimed, circumducting his unusually loose shoulder, testily at first. The speed of motion increased, along with his enthusiasm. “That’s...yeah, that’s cool.”

“You’re welcome,” Loki said dryly.

“How did you learn to do that?”

“It was merely a dislocated shoulder, Tony. There’s only one socket in your shoulder joint your arm could go.” Loki sniffed haughtily. “I could reduce it in my sleep.”

“Oh.”

“Maybe next time you would think twice about jumping in front of a sentient moving truck, hmm?” Loki climbed to his feet with a ridiculous amount of grace for someone who had just been involved in a bloody battle with Dr Doom’s latest legion of war machines. He held out an expectant hand.

Tony grabbed it with his good hand. “It was heading straight for you, Lokes.”

Loki hoisted him up with more force than necessary, and as their chests unceremoniously bumped into each other, Tony felt his body sag to one side. Before his busted knee could buckle under him, a strong arm swooped and held him up by the waist.

“I’m sturdier than I look, Stark.”

“I bet.” His gaze dropped to the hollow notch at the base of Loki’s throat, Tony wondered which was worse – Loki now being privy to his deepest secrets, or the thought of never burying his face in that long, white neck again.

But let’s be honest. It was no contest. At all.

“You’re an endangered species, Loki.”

There it was, the subtlest twitch in Loki’s jaw as indignation and pleasure at such florid flattery warred for dominance over his features.

It was an educated guess at best but Loki must not be all that upset, for the next thing Tony knew, Loki’s lips were brushing against his, soft and airy, like the wispiest of butterflies –

“I’ll let it go on the account of your foolish act of bravery, Stark,” Loki said coolly. “But just this once.”

Tony nodded away, not caring in the least what he was agreeing to, or who might be watching. Loki’s kisses always tasted sweeter after a hard-won battle.

“I do not care much for jewellery...” Loki breathed against his lips, hiding his beatific smile behind a warning. “But there’d better be a letter under that bed, Anthony.”

“You’re going to read it, aren’t you.”

“Every. Single. Word.” Loki punctuated every word with a kiss. Then he straightened, his expression and stature both, looking every inch the regal alien prince that he was.

“Or you can read it out to me while I ice that shoulder of yours. What’s your suit made of anyway, aluminium?”

“Ouch.”

There must be a way he could salvage his pride, or what was left of it. 

What a shame, that bespoke piece would look stunning on Loki.

“I say, Lokes, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee on that choker, if you really don’t want it, I can easily call the store and – ”

“Oh no, no.” Loki half-pulled, half-hauled Tony in a steady path toward the Quinjet as easily as he was pulling along a toy wagon. “Knowing you, there must be some sappy inscription on it, some silly code I have to break. This I really have to see.”

Then he paused, “It’s not ‘I love you’, is it?”

Tony groaned aloud. “Give me a break, Loki! I really, really thought I was a goner!”

“So you don’t love me?”

“No! I mean, yes! I mean – ” With a great sigh, Tony deflated. “I can’t win with you.”

Loki smirked. “Sentiment, Tony.”

“I’ve been guilty of worse.” Tony’s one-legged stride ground to a halt. “I waited too long.”

Loki’s shoulders had seemingly slumped forward with the weight of Tony’s confession; yet his eyes were soft, the softest Tony had ever seen. “I’d say you’re just in time, Stark.”

Tony wondered if they were speaking the same language, but could not bring himself to ask, for fear of shattering this beautiful illusion they had created for themselves.

“Come on.” A coaxing hand, as cold as ice, palmed his cheek. “Let’s go home.”

 _Home_. Loki had never called it that before.

Tony’s heart soared. “Let’s go home.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've been thinking of writing this pairing for a while but never quite found the courage. Thank you Arabesqueangel and DocWordsmith, for giving me that final push. Hope my first attempt at Frostiron does it justice. ❤️


End file.
